Welding Tips and Tricks

Farmer friend brought this 10ft wide, 3pt mounted, pto driven rototiller by a while ago for the tines to be replaced....
They evidently though welding them on, and building up the teeth was better that torquing the bolts to 200ft-lbs.
The bolts holes are egged out.
Gonna have to put some weld in there and bore them.
But first thing is getting the welds out.
Do ya'll think I should air-arc the welds out??
Or just grind them out.
About 1/4 of them are broken or bent, the rest are worn down, to much to mess with hard-facing....

Thanks in advance....
~John

Got the new parts.
Now the hard part.
Let me know what ya'll think....

John,
So they are bolted and welded on? If so I would try a gouging tip in your plasma cutter, works like a champ and will be a lot cheaper. You do have your work cut out for you though.
-Jonathan

Superiorwelding wrote:John,
So they are bolted and welded on? If so I would try a gouging tip in your plasma cutter, works like a champ and will be a lot cheaper. You do have your work cut out for you though.
-Jonathan

I need to get a plasma cutter.
I'll try one with a grinder and see.
This machine is owned by a cheap farmer.
It was new, and just run it into the ground....

This is where I make my money though.
~John

I've tried all sorts over the years on jobs like this & wear parts on plows & tillage equipment - I would probably say the quickest way with least collateral damage is air chisel ( needs to be a good one - not horrible freight special ! ) the nuts off the bolts & knock them through - then because the blades are hard ( similar to a leaf spring ) give them a real sharp hit with a big hammer - my guess is they will peel off the weld easily ( insert 6013 joke here ! ) unless welded right round - then all you need to do is clean up the flanges with a grinder - air arc would certainly remove the welds fairly cleanly - but the power requirement for compressor / arc power is very high putting cost up - I only use one when it's the only viable solution ( & the noise & flying cr#p is'nt pleasant )

So you think smucking it with 12lb sledge would fracture the weld???

I didn't think about it...

~John

Yes - I do based on similar jobs I've done - those blades have a fair bit of carbon in & are heat treated after they are formed - it's why they break the way they do if you hit large rocks - you know if you try welding to a leaf spring the weld will tear off fairly easily leaving a very fine crystalline looking grain ? same thing with those ( yes - even with excaiber !! )

I'll give it a try...

Thanks man.
~John

No worries - it maybe they hold better than I expect - but so long as the weld is on one side & you hit them the right way I reckon they will come right off ( who welded them - it's even possible they're done with some " devil rod " & will fall off - not even 3 blows ! )

noddybrian wrote:No worries - it maybe they hold better than I expect - but so long as the weld is on one side & you hit them the right way I reckon they will come right off ( who welded them - it's even possible they're done with some " devil rod " & will fall off - not even 3 blows ! )

They are probably 7018 welds. Just my luck!!

I'll give it a try though...

~John

Well if that's 7018 done hot your probably going to have to change out the complete rotor !